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15a Coronation Street
side of the flat]] 15a Coronation Street is a two-bedroom flat located above the Corner Shop in Coronation Street, Weatherfield. It is home to Daniel Osbourne, Sinead Tinker, and their son Bertie, who rent the property from the shop's owner Dev Alahan. Originally one of the shop's bedrooms, by the early 1960s the area had been converted into a bedsit. Florrie Lindley was the first proprieter to take in lodgers, and most of her successors have followed suit, although a few have used the space for storage or lived there themselves. In 1985, as part of a modernisation of the shop Alf Roberts expanded the flat to fill the entire upstairs and built a new door to the apartment on Viaduct Street, separating the flat from the shop - although the properties have continued to be sold together. Past residents of the flat include Sheila Birtles, Doreen Lostock, Emily Nugent, Bet Lynch, Tricia Hopkins, Gail Potter, Deirdre Langton, Shirley Armitage, Curly Watts, Ken Barlow, Greg Kelly, Sunita Parekh, Amber Kalirai and Adam Barlow. History When the Corner Shop in Coronation Street was built in 1902, it had three upstairs bedrooms. By 1961, one of the rooms had been adapted into a bedsit, allowing the shop's owner Florrie Lindley to start taking in paying lodgers. The first tenants were Town Hall clerks Phil Braithwaite and Norman Dobson. During the 1960s and 1970s, most people who resided at the flat were either relatives of the shop's owner or live-in assistants. As it was technically part of the shop, and not a separate property, anyone living there was evicted when the shop underwent a change of ownership. When not occupied, it was generally used as a stockroom. The bedsit's conversion into a one-bedroom flat occurred in 1985, as part of Alf Roberts's expansion of the Corner Shop. The bedroom and bathroom had been part of the shop's living quarters, which was stripped away in the renovation with the flat now occupying the entire upper floor. A new street entrance and staircase leading to the flat were built at the same time, and the property was numbered 15a Coronation Street. From this point onwards, residents of the flat were full tenants, with a rent book. The flat continued to be used at the shop owner's convenience; Reg Holdsworth, for one, always kept it vacant, while Dev Alahan, like Alf before him, lived there when he had nowhere else to turn. Many tenants were more trouble than they were worth. In 1991, Ken Barlow presented Alf with a list of repairs needed to make the flat habitable, including a new water heater. Alf refused to pay up, accusing Ken of pulling a fast one. Even after tripping over a rotten riser and falling down the stairs, Alf wouldn't give in and eventually Audrey Roberts had the work done behind her husband's back. Two rebuilds of the flat have taken place since 1985. In 2004, Maya Sharma set fire to the shop below with Sunita Alahan chained to the cooker in the flat. Dev and Sunita were rescued from the blaze by Ciaran McCarthy and Charlie Stubbs and survived without serious injury. Both the shop and the flat were done up over the following months. Six years later, the properties were reduced to rubble when a tram passing along the viaduct was derailed and the front carriage careened into the shop. The flat was being rented by Tina McIntyre and Graeme Proctor at the time, though neither was at home when the carnage occurred. The shop and flat were again rebuilt and Tina and Graeme moved back in. In addition to being lived in by the people listed below, the flat was used as a love nest by Sunita Alahan and Karl Munro when they were having an affair in 2012, and three years later 13-year-old Faye Windass chose to have her daughter Miley there, using the empty flat to give birth in secret. In 2018, it was the site of a robbery when Tyler Jefferies and Simon Barlow broke in to steal jewellery from Flora McArdle. The boys were caught in the act by Flora, and Tyler threw a jewellery box at her head as he made a run for it. Simon, who was being led astray by Tyler, grassed him up to the police and subsequently testified against him in court. Layout 1961-1985 : The flat as it appeared during the tenancy of Tricia Hopkins and Gail Potter]] The flat started out as little more than a spare bedroom, lacking a bathroom, its own street entrance or postal address separate from the shop. Tenants entered the bedsit from the upstairs landing situated within the shop's living quarters. When first let in 1961, the flat contained two beds, a stove, and limited kitchen facilities. The layout was unchanged at least until 1967, when Emily Nugent lived there, but by 1970 it had a kitchen extension to the right of the entrance, behind a glass wall. This was gone by 1975, replaced with a plasterboard wall and door. When Tricia Hopkins and Gail Potter moved in, they had the flat fully redecorated. The most distinctive feature they added was a crêpe paper entrance to the kitchen, which was still in place when Deirdre Langton took possession of the flat in 1980. 1985-2004 The renovation of the Corner Shop into Alf's Mini-Market in 1985 meant that the flat now encompassed the entire upstairs. The existing rooms were mostly untouched by the builders, but it gained a bedroom and bathroom from the old shop accommodation. As the staircase behind the shop was removed in the rebuild, a new one was put in place leading to the flat's new entrance from Viaduct Street. 2005 to present ]] Charlie Stubbs's rebuild in the aftermath of Maya Sharma's arson attack on the shop in 2004 changed the layout considerably. The new living room and kitchen were open plan, and the living room door opened into a proper hallway. The flat also contained two bedrooms by this point in time. Further remodelling following the tram crash combined the living room and kitchen into a single room and removed the door to the hall, with the front door and one of the bedrooms on the right hand side and the other bedroom and toilet on the left. :The 2014 outdoor set added a second window to the shop flat on the side facing Coronation Street, presumably from one of the bedrooms, though it is not clear if this was supposed to have always been there or added in one of the rebuilds. List of owners and residents Owners *1961-1965 - Florrie Lindley The first Corner Shop owner known to take in paying lodgers. Florrie felt responsible for Sheila Birtles and Doreen Lostock and wrote to Sheila's parents every so often letting them know how she was getting on so that they wouldn't worry. *1965-1966 - Lionel Petty An ex-sergeant major, Lionel gave the flat to his daughter Sandra in order to keep her close by. *1966-1968 - David and Irma Barlow The newly married couple used the flat as a storeroom for the first year before advertising for a lodger. Percy Bridge was due to move in but the Barlows turned him away when he turned up with a ferret, and Emily Nugent got the flat instead. *1968-1970 - Les and Maggie Clegg Kept the flat for use by the family. *1970-1976 - Maggie Clegg/Cooke Keeping the shop on after her divorce, Maggie offered the flat as accommodation for an assistant. Irma Barlow, then the shop's joint owner, also lived there for a period. In 1974, Maggie married Ron Cooke and emigrated to Zaire, and Gordon Clegg acted as landlord on her behalf. *1976-1980 - Renee Bradshaw/Roberts Envisioned the flat as a home for her brother Terry, but he left Weatherfield after less than a year. Bet Lynch was Renee's tenant for the majority of her time at the shop. Renee kept Bet there so that her mother Daisy Hibbert wouldn't get ideas about moving in. *1980-1993 - Alf Roberts Councillor and former mayor, Alf loved the shop but hated the flat. He preferred to keep it empty and save himself the hassle of dealing with difficult tenants, but always changed his mind in order to do a friend a good turn. As a landlord, Alf was overbearing, quick to complain, and slow to open his wallet for much-needed improvements. In 1991, he got into a spat with Ken Barlow after Ken placed a campaign poster for Deirdre Barlow, Alf's opponent in the council elections, on his window. Alf let himself into the flat illegally and tore up the poster. Ironically, the row helped to secure Alf's victory as an article in the Gazette portrayed Ken, Deirdre's estranged husband, as the aggressor. *1993 - Brendan Scott Kept Ken on as a sitting tenant. *1993 - Debi Scott Kept Ken on as a sitting tenant. *1993-1994 - Alf Roberts Kept Ken on as a sitting tenant. *1994-1996 - Reg Holdsworth Evicted Ken so that he could use the flat as a storeroom. *1996-1997 - Maureen Holdsworth After a year in charge, Maureen had the flat done up and started renting it out again. *1997-1999 - Fred Elliott Saw the flat as a money-maker. The butcher charged tenants £65 a week, plus a non-negotiable £250 deposit before they could move in. *1999 - Ravi Desai Allowed his daughter Nita, the shop's manager, to have the flat rent-free. When she defected to Freshco, he handed her a rent book. *1999 to present - Dev Alahan The shop's current owner prefers to have the flat occupied, and never allows it to stay empty for long. Dev rarely troubles his tenants, provided they pay their bills. He has lived there himself more than any of his predecessors, with three spells under its roof. Residents *1961 - Phil Braithwaite A clerk at Weatherfield Town Hall who moved in along with his colleague Norman Dobson in October 1961. They had both left by January 1962. *1961 - Norman Dobson Shared a room with Phil Braithwaite. : Sheila Birtles contemplates suicide]] *1962-1963 - Sheila Birtles A young machinist at Elliston's Raincoat Factory, who shared the flat with her best friend Doreen Lostock. The girls often annoyed Florrie with their pop music but they obeyed her cardinal rule forbidding boyfriends from staying the night. In 1963, Sheila had a mental breakdown in the flat after being dumped by Neil Crossley and considered killing herself, but was saved thanks to Dennis Tanner's intervention. She returned to her parents in Rawtenstall immediately afterwards. *1962-1963 - Doreen Lostock Sheila's flatmate who worked at Gamma Garments. Doreen stayed on for a few weeks after Sheila's departure before signing with the Women's Royal Army Corp and leaving Weatherfield. *1965 - Jerry Booth Lived in the flat for three months after the breakdown of his marriage to Myra and death of their baby daughter. *1965 - Sandra Petty Daughter of shop owner Lionel Petty. The flat gave Sandra her own space away from her domineering father but it was too close for her liking and at the end of the year she moved to a flat in Leestand Road to assert her independence. *1967-1968 - Emily Nugent The Gamma Garments manager moved in when she returned to Weatherfield after spending a year nursing her sick father in Harrogate. She was forced to give up the flat when the Cleggs bought the shop. *1968-1969 - Gordon Clegg Son of Betty Turpin, raised by Maggie and Les Clegg. Moving in when his parents bought the shop, Gordon lived at the flat for a year, while studying accountancy at Commercial College. He left to work at his firm's head office in London. *1969-1970 - Betty Turpin Along with her husband Cyril, Betty moved into the flat to be closer to her younger sister Maggie. Maggie allowed the Turpins to share her living space, but secured Betty a job as a barmaid at the Rovers Return in order to keep her out of the shop. The Turpins stayed for a year, moving to 37 Hillside Crescent in 1970. *1969-1970 - Cyril Turpin Policeman and husband of Betty. *1970-1971 - Irma Barlow The shop's co-owner moved into the flat with Bet Lynch after the Turpins left. Recently widowed, Irma's time there was characterised by bad relationships with men, including Joe Donelli who confessed to murdering Steve Tanner and locked Irma in the flat with him. She disappeared abruptly in December 1971 and pulled her money out of the shop two months later, settling in Llandudno. : The flat in 1970, occupied by Irma Barlow and Bet Lynch]] *1970, 1977-1980, 1982-1985, 1989 - Bet Lynch/Gilroy The longstanding Rovers barmaid flat-shared with Irma Barlow for just four months before leaving to live with Frank Bradley at 44 Victoria Street. In 1977, she rented the flat for £8 a week after splitting from Mike Baldwin. Not until a year later did Bet find out that Mike had been subsidizing her by £2 a week to alleviate his guilt for mistreating her. Between her smoking, her boyfriends and hogging the bathroom, Bet tested the Roberts' patience at times but they kept her on mainly to prevent Renee's mother Daisy Hibbert from moving in. She left in 1980 when the Roberts banned her from having her boyfriend Dan Johnson there overnight. A third stint began two years later, orginally a temporary arrangement while her bedsit's roof was being repaired. Alf didn't take any rent and felt a fool when Bet's entire street was demolished. Nevertheless, he let her stay until 1985 when she moved into the Rovers as it's new landlady. She lived there briefly for a fourth and final time in 1989 during a period of separation from Alec Gilroy. *1971 - Janet Reid Len Fairclough's ex-girlfriend filled in for Irma at the shop for four weeks while Irma recuperated from appendicitis in Llandudno, and in return was allowed to use the flat. Feeling lonely, Janet threw herself at Alan Howard, but was seen off by Elsie. *1972-1973 - Norma Ford Answered Maggie's ad for a live-in assistant in 1972 and stayed for a year and a half. *1974-1976 - Tricia Hopkins 17-year-old daughter of shop manageress Vera Hopkins. The flat functioned as Tricia's bedroom while her parents and grandmother occupied the rest of the living quarters. In 1975, after the Hopkins flitted to the other side of Weatherfield, Tricia came back on her own and rented the flat privately from Gordon Clegg, sharing with her friend Gail Potter. The girls were given notice in 1976 when Renee Bradshaw purchased the shop. *1975-1976 - Gail Potter Best friend of Tricia Hopkins. The pair worked as secretaries at the Mark Brittain Warehouse while living at the flat until it was gutted in a fire in late 1975. The following year, they had a short spell in charge of the shop until Renee took it over. *1976 - Terry Bradshaw Younger brother of Renee Bradshaw. Terry moved into the flat while working at Fairclough and Langton, on the condition that he kept his independence. He left at the end of the year to return to the army after being rejected by Gail. *1980-1981 - Deirdre Langton Single mother Deirdre became Alf's live-in assistant after leaving 3 Coronation Street. She left the flat after just under a year when she married Ken Barlow, but kept on her job at the shop. *1980-1981 - Tracy Langton Deirdre's three-year-old daughter with Ray Langton. *1985-1986, 1989-1990 - Alf Roberts Alf moved into the flat after renovating the Corner Shop, removing the living quarters. He and Audrey did not stay long, as Audrey insisted on having a proper home after they were married - to her dismay, Alf bought No.11, two doors down. The Roberts moved back in for a few months when their purchase of a Hillside Crescent semi fell through and they had to house-hunt from scratch. *1985-1986, 1989-1990 - Audrey Roberts Audrey married Alf in 1985. The shop - and by extension the flat - were the bane of her existence. She was overjoyed when they bought 5 Grasmere Drive in 1990 and they not longer had to suffer the humiliation of living above their own shop. *1987-1988 - Kevin Webster Local mechanic. The flat was Kevin and Sally's first home of their own, seven months after they were married. Less than a year later, Hilda Ogden sold No.13 to them. *1987-1988, 1998 - Sally Webster Wife of Kevin. Sally was Alf's assistant in the shop during the period in which she lived in the flat. Ten years later, Greg Kelly let Sally move in with him after Kevin found out about their affair and threw her bags in the street. Gradually it dawned on Sally that Greg was only after her money. When he turned violent, she moved in with Rita Sullivan. *1988-1989 - Shirley Armitage Baldwin's Casuals machinist who lived in the flat with her boyfriend Curly Watts. Shirley narrowly beat Curly in applying for the tenancy, so when Alf offered it to Curly anyway, Curly suspected that it was because Shirley was black, and decided to refuse it. It was then that Shirley suggested they flat-share, an arrangement which Alf was obliged to accept in order to prove that he wasn't a racist. Shirley walked out on Curly a year later, deciding that he was too serious for her. *1988-1989 - Curly Watts The binman-turned-student shared the flat with Shirley Armitage, losing his virginity to her on the night they moved in. As they were living in sin, some did not approve of the arrangement, with Curly's parents refusing to let him take his old bed from the family home. Curly went into seclusion after Shirley dumped him, before finally moving out owing Alf £80 in rent. *1990 - Reg Holdsworth The Bettabuy supremo moved in when his wife Veronica found out about his affair with Renee Dodds and kicked him out. Alf only agreed to take Reg on when Curly, assistant manager at Bettabuy, paid off his £80 arrears. Three months later, Bettabuy started up a bus service with Coronation Street as one of its pick-up points, and Alf evicted Reg for stealing his customers. : "Just listen to that, it's like 'avin Noel Coward up there" Alf Roberts in one of his frequent clashes with Ken Barlow]] *1990-1994 - Ken Barlow Ken lived at the shop flat for four years, during the period when he was separated from Deirdre. As his relationship with Wendy Crozier had ended, Ken hoped that living so close to his estranged wife would make a reconciliation more likely, but it only caused arguments. He was forced out in 1994 by his new landlord Reg Holdsworth, who wanted the flat for a store room. *1997 - Bill Webster The builder lived there for most of 1997, while he was seeing the shop's owner Maureen Holdsworth. Bill stayed on after finishing with Maureen but her new husband, Fred Elliott, did not want him around and served him notice. *1997-1998 - Chris Collins The Coronation Street Garage mechanic spent only four months there before moving on to Coventry. In March 1998, Des Barnes kicked the door in and caught Chris in bed with his girlfriend Samantha Failsworth. *1998 - Greg Kelly Mike Baldwin's business partner at Underworld knicker factory. Greg had agreed to negotiate a reduced rent on the flat for his girlfriend Maxine Heavey, but when he saw the landlord Fred Elliott he asked if he could have it himself instead and then told Maxine that they couldn't live together as he needed his own space. Greg then moved onto Sally Webster, frittering away her mother's inheritance on his business projects. When Kevin threw her out over their affair, Sally moved in with Greg. She left him when he showed his true colours and started hitting her. Not long afterwards, Fred evicted Greg for not paying the rent. *1998 - Rosie Webster Sally and Kevin's seven-year-old daughter. Not willing to let Kevin have the girls, Sally brought them to live with her and Greg in the cramped flat. No one was happy with the arrangement, least of all Greg. *1998 - Sophie Webster Sally and Kevin's four-year-old daughter. Despite his attempts to play happy families, Greg kept forgetting the girls' names. *1999-2000 - Nita Desai The shop's new manager moved in when Fred Elliott sold the business to her father Ravi. She lived there rent-free until she gave the job up to work at Freshco. In 2000, she moved back into the family home. *2000, 2006-2008, 2012-2013 - Dev Alahan Owner of the Corner Shop since 1999. Dev normally lived in modern apartments, using the flat only when he had to. The first time was in 2000, soon after he arrived in the area from Birmingham. By the end of that year, he was settled in No. 6 Montreal House, Weatherfield Quays. His next spell in the flat began in 2006, when he persuaded his estranged wife Sunita to take their new house in Bramhall for herself and twins Aadi and Asha. Two years later, he bought an apartment in the new Victoria Court development and vacated the flat, along with his daughter Amber Kalirai. A third stint there began in July 2012 when he moved out of 7 Coronation Street to give Sunita space after her affair with Karl Munro, in a desperate bid to save his marriage. When Sunita died the following year, Dev returned to No.7 to look after the twins. *2000-2001 - Peter Barlow Dev let Peter rent the flat in order as a favour to his assistant Deirdre Rachid, to get him out of her way at No.1. Peter lasted three months before being thrown out. : Dev and Sunita are left to die by Maya]] *2001-2003, 2004, 2005-2006 - Sunita Parekh/Alahan Sunita was one of Dev's employees who he let use the flat when she went into hiding from her parents in order to avoid an arranged marriage. After her parents cut her out entirely, she moved into the flat as a proper tenant. In 2003, she went to live with Ciaran McCarthy, returning some months later after jilting him at the altar. Her marriage to Dev later that year led to Sunita leaving the flat to live with him at Weatherfield Quays. That same month, she and Dev endured the traumatic experience of being held hostage in the flat by Dev's ex Maya Sharma and left to die in a fire. The Alahans were rescued by Charlie Stubbs and Ciaran McCarthy just in time. In 2005, Sunita found out that Dev had fathered children with the women who worked at his shops years earlier, leading her to move back to the flat while she decided if they had a future. Seven weeks later, after giving birth to twins Aadi and Asha, she decided to return to her family. *2003 - Ciaran McCarthy Sunita's partner who lived with her for a week in February 2003 until the police arrested him for being AWOL from the Navy. *2006 - Aadi Alahan Son of Dev and Sunita. The twins were only three weeks old when Sunita moved back with her family, taking them with her. *2006 - Asha Alahan Daughter of Dev and Sunita. *2006-2008, 2011-2012 - Amber Kalirai Dev's 15-year-old daughter with Ravinder Kalirai. Amber imposed herself on Dev when Ravinder moved to Finland with her partner. At that point, she and Dev barely knew each other. She moved back in after flunking out of university in 2011 but constant rows with Sunita made her leave Weatherfield again in March 2012. *2009 - Tara Mandal Dev's girlfriend at the time who moved in after leaving home. After three months, she accepted Dev's invitation to move into his Victoria Court flat. *2009 - Darryl Morton Amber Kalirai's boyfriend. Darryl living there was a condition of Dev letting the flat to Darryl's wayward mother Teresa Bryant. After six months, Darryl accepted a £500 bribe from Dev to finish with Amber so that she would return to university. Though he never cashed the cheque, Amber found out about the deal and dumped him, causing Darryl to leave to join the Mortons in Spain. *2009 - Teresa Bryant Mother of Darryl Morton. Dev took pity on Teresa when she turned up back in Weatherfield, homeless. Teresa was thrown out by Darryl after she wrecked his relationship with Amber. *2010 - Molly Dobbs Dev's assistant at the Corner Shop. Molly lived there for two months while separated from Tyrone Dobbs *2010, 2011 - Tina McIntyre Rovers Return barmaid. Tina was living there with her boyfriend Graeme Proctor when the flat was reduced to rubble in the 2010 tram crash. Dev offered his old Victoria Court flat to the couple while it was being rebuilt and they moved back in once it had been restored. In August 2011, with Tina now the sole tenant, Dev put her rent up by £60 a month as a ruse to get her out so that Amber could move in. Tina told him where he could stick his flat. *2010, 2011 - Graeme Proctor Boyfriend of Tina McIntyre. Graeme left the area in June 2011 with his new wife Xin. *2011 - Xin Chiang/Proctor An old friend of Tina's. Xin moved in as part of Tina's ploy to marry her and Graeme so that she could stay in the country. This backfired when the couple fell for each other and moved away to begin their new lives together. *2013 - Tim Metcalfe Faye Windass's biological father rented the flat when he first arrived in the area and got a job labouring for Jason Grimshaw. Later that year, he moved in with Sally Webster. : 13-year-old Faye Windass goes into labour in the flat]] *2013 - Faye Windass Daughter of Tim Metcalfe. Her adoptive mother, Anna Windass, was horrified when 11-year-old Faye chose to live with Tim instead of her. When Tim went to work in Newcastle, Faye fended for herself while pretending to everyone that he was still there. Tim later convinced Faye that her place was with Anna. *2015-2016 - Erica Holroyd An old friend of Liz McDonald's. Dev offered Erica the flat after she fell out with her family. They later began a relationship and she moved into No.7. *2016 - Sonia Rahman Sharif Nazir's bit on the side took the flat so that they could use it for secret trysts. However, when Yasmeen found out about their seven-year affair, Sharif left town, leaving Sonia with no reason to stay in the Street. *2016-2019- Adam Barlow Solicitor and son of Susan Barlow who shared the flat with his uncle Daniel Osbourne. They moved in when they returned to Weatherfield following Ken's stroke. Adam briefly moved out in disgust over Daniel's assault of Ken in 2017 before deciding to follow Ken's lead and forgive his relative. In 2019, he decided to give newlyweds Daniel and Sinead space and moved into the Rovers Return. *2016 to present - Daniel Osbourne Youngest son of Ken Barlow. Daniel was absent for most of Ken's life, but returned and got to know his dad after Ken had a stroke. The flat was Daniel's first home with his wife Sinead and their son Bertie. *2017, 2018 to present - Sinead Tinker Daniel's girlfriend and later wife. She first moved in after finishing with Chesney Brown to be with Daniel, but after discovering that Daniel had pushed Ken down the stairs she returned to Chesney. The two later reconciled and in July 2018 Sinead moved back in. *2017 - Denise Osbourne Daniel's mother moved in after Sinead and the Barlows turned their backs on him for attacking Ken. Denise intended to stay for a while but Daniel refused to trust her after she abandoned him as a child and turned her away. *2018 - Flora McArdle Dotty mother of the late Harvey McArdle. Harvey was one of Pat Phelan's murder victims and Daniel, feeling bad for her ending up at a grotty council care home, took her in while he found her better accommodation. He was unsuccessful but after Harvey's will was released, Flora inherited over £250,000 and made her own arrangements, giving Daniel and Sinead £13,000 as a thank-you. *2019 to present - Bertie Osbourne Son of Daniel and Sinead, born prematurely on 14th January 2019. Gallery Image:Corner_shop_flat_1962.jpg|1962: Doreen Lostock and Sheila Birtles settle into the bedsit Image:Corner_shop_flat_kitchen_1970.jpg|1970: Irma Barlow brings breakfast through from the kitchen Image:Corner_shop_flat_stairs.jpg|Stairs to the front door in 1990 Image:Corner_shop_flat_1998.jpg|1998: Sally Webster turns Greg Kelly's bachelor pad into a family home Image:Corner_shop_flat_2010.jpg|The flat as it appeared between 2005 and 2010, pre-tram crash Background information The flat's interior was first seen in Episode 167 on 18th July 1962, when Sheila Birtles and Doreen Lostock moved in. Before that, the bedsit had been occupied by Phil Braithwaite and Norman Dobson, but the onset of the Equity actors' strike shortly after their introduction precluded any further appearances of the characters. Frequency of appearances During the early years of the programme, the flat was one of the least-seen residences in the street, often going years without appearing even when occupied. The frequency of appearances changed with the tenant, from relatively often (Sheila and Doreen, Gail Potter and Tricia Hopkins), to rarely (Norma Ford, Bet Lynch), to never (Betty and Cyril Turpin, Terry Bradshaw). Most of the people in the latter categories were either live-in assistants or relatives of the shop's owner, who used the downstairs living room thus rendering it unnecessary to waste the limited studio space on the shop flat set. As a case in point, its final appearance prior to the 1985 refit of the Corner Shop was in Episode 2115 on 8th July 1981, despite Bet Lynch living there for most of that time. In the post-bedsit years, as a separate entity from the Corner Shop, and ever expanding in size, the flat has been seen more often when occupied. Again, this has varied with the tenant. Longer off-screen periods occurred from 13th July 1994 to 23rd March 1998, and again from 6th April 2015 to 27th January 2017. Changes in layout The flat has sported dramatically different appearances over the years. Most of the changes have been explained within storylines, occurring during the 1985, 2005 or 2011 rebuilds. Other modifications occurred with no on-screen explanation and are difficult to reconcile with the previously established layout of the flat. During the 1970s, the flat's entrance inexplicably moved along the back wall to an adjacent corner of the room. It was transferred to yet another corner when Reg Holdsworth lived there in 1990, and what had been the back wall now overlooked Coronation Street, despite the kitchen, bedroom and bathroom remaining in the same places. The flat had only a single bedroom until the late 1990s when Sally Webster moved Rosie and Sophie in, putting them up in a hitherto unmentioned second bedroom. Category:Buildings in Coronation Street